"Li Qiumei is so angry; you must have snagged the award."
Lu Siyuan reached for Shen Mianmian’s report card, wanting to confirm it. He hadn’t even had the chance to see her scores before being called.
Before his hand could touch the report card, he heard Li Qiumei yell out loud, "Shen Mianmian."
Everyone turned to look at Shen Mianmian in unison. The first reaction was that Shen Mianmian must be being called out by Teacher Li for not paying attention in class again.
But before everyone could react, Li Qiumei repeated it, "Shen Mianmian, come and receive the improvement award."
The classroom fell into a deafening silence for an instant.
Zhou Siyu was completely petrified, her eyes wide as saucers.
The expressions on Wang Jingjing and Zhao Xinlan’s faces also became particularly distorted.
Amid the stunned expressions around her, Shen Mianmian walked to the front of the classroom with composure and, under Li Qiumei’s fierce glare, took three dollars and some stationery items.
It wasn’t until Shen Mianmian sat back down that everyone fully regained their senses. Zhao Xinlan couldn’t help but ask loudly, "Teacher, how could the improvement award go to Shen Mianmian?"
Li Qiumei, seething with anger and looking for an outlet, retorted fiercely, "If not her, then who? You?"
Dozens of students, who usually performed better than Shen Mianmian, had all let her down at the end of the term by letting Shen Mianmian win the improvement award.
Because of this award, she had even gotten into a heated argument with Chen Jie in the office, turning red-faced and hoarse. The principal sided with Chen Jie, firmly deciding to give the award to Shen Mianmian.
What was more infuriating was that the overall exam scores of her students were not as good as those in other classes, and she didn’t receive her own award either.
After so many years of teaching, it was this year she had hit a streak of bad luck—everything was going wrong.
Zhao Xinlan’s eyes reddened from being scolded, but she still felt indignant, "Teacher, how many points did Shen Mianmian score?"
"Chinese seventy, math eighty-six." Li Qiumei almost spat out these scores through gritted teeth. Shen Mianmian’s sudden improvement in her academic performance was bad enough, but to top it off, her results were uneven.
It made the principal question her teaching skills, and he didn’t hesitate to praise Chen Jie in front of her. It was like a slap in her face.
A collective gasp of astonishment escaped uncontrollably from everyone.
Is Shen Mianmian still considered a poor student?
The top student in math had only scored ninety-six points.
Instantly, the name Shen Mianmian became the center of attention, with everyone turning to look at her. Only Shen Mianmian herself had a particularly indifferent expression, as if she had known all along, showing no hint of emotional fluctuation.
"Where’s your backpack?" Lu Siyuan was somewhat puzzled. Didn’t Li Qiumei say that all four awards came with a backpack?
"Do you think she would give me a backpack?" This improvement award must have caused quite a stir in the office to have ended up in her hands.
Lu Siyuan suddenly felt somewhat disdainful of the backpack in front of him. This Old Lady Li was really small-minded. Google seaʀᴄh 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝙣𝙚𝙩
Li Qiumei, fuming internally, didn’t have the patience to say much more. She gave a few perfunctory instructions and left huffing and puffing.
No sooner had she left than her classmates swarmed around Shen Mianmian, "Shen Mianmian, how did you score so high?"
"Shen Mianmian, you’ve made a comeback!"
"Let me see your notice."
"Shen Mianmian, you’re so amazing!"
"Shen Mianmian, did you cheat?"
There were those who were envious and those who were skeptical.
They wouldn’t have been so surprised if anyone else had received the improvement award, but Shen Mianmian getting it truly dropped their jaws.